F 

1235 
Cll 


BANCROFT 
LIBRARY 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 


ADDRESS 


OF 


Mr.  Luis  Cabrera 


Published  by 

LATIN-AMERICAN  NEWS  ASSOCIATION 
1400  Broadway,  New  York  City 


A  ^\  -3  asr 


C  \\ 


Address  of  Mr.  Luis  Cabrera 

B 

Whatever  I  might  say  in  token  of  gratitude,  for  the  honor 
conferred  upon  us  by  The  American  Academy  of  Political  and 
Social  Science  and  The  Pennsylvania  Arbitration  and  Peace 
Society,  would  be  little,  in  view  of  the  great  importance  of  the 
special  invitation  extended  to  us  to  attend  this  extra  session  of 
the  Academy. 

We  consider  this  session  a  high  honor  for  our  country  more 
so  than  for  ourselves,  and  we  are  glad  of  the  opportunity  to 
make  ourselves  heard  before  a  scientific  and  scholarly  audience, 
free  from  prejudice  and  interest  towards  the  Mexican  situation. 
Owing  to  their  special  nature,  The  American  Academy  of  Politi- 
cal and  Social  Science,  as  well  as  the  Pennsylvania  Arbitration 
and  Peace  Society  is  an  institution  of  scientific  and  humanitarian 
character,  having  at  heart  only  the  sole  logical  investigation  and 
the  good  of  humanity,  and  in  that  spirit  proceeds  to  study  the 
Mexican  situation. 

The  literature  on  Mexico  which  I  have  found  in  the  United 
States  is  of  an  entirely  superficial  character,  such  as  is  contained 
in  reports  or  interviews  of  a  newspaper.  Consequently,  it  is 
tinged  with  shallowness,  based  on  rumors,  and  intended  for 
telagraphic  transmission.    In  many  cases  those  reports  have  poli- 


tical  tendency  and  then  the  facts  are  not  only  inaccurate,  but 
brought  forth  with  the  intention  of  moulding  public  opinion,  or 
that  of  the  United  States  Government,  or  that  of  some  political 
party,. 

In  many  other  cases  the  literature  of  Mexico  known  in  the 
United  States,  is  simply  imaginative,  ranking  from  the  novel 
down  to  the  moving  picture  exhibition. 

I  do  not  know  of  any  book,  pamphlet  or  publication  on  the 
Mexican  situation  which  has  been  made  with  a  scientific  pur- 
pose. 

The  sources  of  information  have  been  either  newspaper  cor- 
respondents who  discard  99%  of  important  facts  because  they 
cannot  extract  therefrom  a  sensational  headline  for  their  paper, 
or  foreigners  having  interests  in  Mexico,  and  who  view  the  coun- 
try's situation  merely  from  the  viewpoint  of  their  own  business. 
Other  founts  of  information  come  either  from  Mexicans  who 
reside  abroad,  and  whose  views  are  affected  by  partisan  bias,  or 
by  politicians  representing  some  special  faction  or  chieftain. 

All  such  founts  rnust  necessarily  be  unreliable.  Not  one  of 
them  springs  from  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  what  are  the  true 
conditions  of  Mexico,  and  the  public  who  reads  them  desires 
to  find  therein  the  corroboration  of  its  own  opinions  rather  than 
precise  data. 

The  mission  which  has  brought  us  to  the  United  States  being 
of  a  diplomatic  nature,  prevents  us  from  speaking  with  absolute 
liberty,  and  our  connection  with  the  Constitutionalist  Govern- 
ment migth  cause  our  opinions  to  be  viewed  as  decidedly  partial. 
As  regards  myself,  without  losing  sight  of  the  fact  that  I  belong 
to  the  Government  of  Mr.  Carranza  and  I  am  taking  part  in  a 
diplomatic  commission,  I  would  like  to  say  some  words  on  the 
Mexican  situation,  appraising  it  from  a  purely  scientific  view- 
point. 

Therefore  I  shall  not  speak  either  as  an  official  or  a  politician 
or  a  diplomat,  but  only  as  a  member  of  The  American  Academy 
of  Political  and  Social  Science  who  desires  to  present  the  gen- 
eral features  of  a  scientific  interpretation  of  the  facts  which  have 
been  agitating  Mexico  during  the  past  six  years. 


THE  CHAOS 

The  general  impression  regarding  the  Mexican  situation,  not 
only  abroad  but  in  Mexico,  is  that  it  is  but  chaos. 


The  causes  put  forth  by  each  Government,  each  chief,  each 

conspirator,   each   politician  or  each  writer,   as   motives   of  the 

Mexican  Revolution,  are  so  numerous  and  conflicting  that  it  is 

almost  impossible  to  understand  them.    Some  are  general,  others 

'concrete,  others  immediate,  and  others  remote. 

The  simplest  conclusion  which  indolent  intelligences  or  im- 
patient characters  have  extracted  from  this  galaxy  of  motives, 
is  that  the  Mexican  people  have  an  incorrigible  tendency  towards 
disorder  and  war,  and  is  consequently  the  "sick  man,"  whose 
cure  is  hopeless.  , 

The  number  of  presidents  that  Mexico  has  had  in  a  century, 
is  nearly  as  large  as  the  number  of  leaders,  generals  or  chief- 
tain^ who  in  the  past  six  years  have  assumed  the  title  of  legiti- 
mate Governments  of  Mexico. 

All  possible  forms  of  administration  have  tried  to  rule  Mexico, 
ranking  from  brutally  military  governments,  without  organiza- 
tion of  any  kind,. such  as  those  of  the  Zapata  or  Villa,  up  to  a 
Government  of  Democratic  appearance,  but  headless,  as  that  pro- 
ceeding from  the  Aguascalientes  Convention. 

Foreign  countries  only  know  of  Mexico  what  they  see  in  the 
press  headlines,  and  those  are  a  tissue  of  bloody  deeds,  battles, 
assaults,  blowing  up  of  trains,  massacres,  shootings,  imprison- 
ments, exiles,  etc. 

Judging  from  thrs  kind  of  information,  the  situation  of  Mex- 
ico is  a  complete  chaos.  Neither  the  American  people,  nor  the 
men  vv^ho  might  be  supposed  to  appraise  the  situation,  can  do  so 
through  lack  of  general  lines  of  interpretation  of  those  facts. 

The  student  or  the  scientist  who  would  like  to  understand  and 
follow  step  by  step  the  phenomena  produced  in  the  chemist's 
glass,  or  in  the  receptacle  of  bacteriological  cultures,  or  in  the 
crucible  of  the  metallurgist;  or  the  botanist  who  would  like  to 
follow  the  development  of  the  seed  or  of  the  grass  minutely, 
would  find  himself  guideless  to  do  so.  Neither  chemical, 
biological,  nor  sociological  phenomena  can  be  studied  through 
direct  observation  of  the  elements  at  the  time  in  which  processes 
of  transformation  are  taking  place.  It  becomes  necessary  to 
know  the  nature  of  those  elements,  to  observe  the  previous  con- 
dition of  the  same,  and  subsequently  the  phenomena  materialized 
therewith. 

To  understand  sociological  phenomena,  we  need  above  all  a 
general  interpretation  of  a  whole  series  of  facts  developed  and 


of  the  evolving  process;  not  a  concrete  explanation  of  each  one 
of  the  facts  as  they  take  place. 

I  shall  endeavor  to  make  a  scientific  interpretation  of  the  Mexi- 
can situation. 

GEOGRAPHICAL  DATA 

Geographically,  Mexico  is  a  high  triangular  plateau,  having  its 
vertex  towards  the  South  and  its  base  towards  the  North,  com- 
prised between  two  mountain  chains,  of  which  one  runs  parallel 
to  the  Gulf  and  the  other  to  the  Pacific  O^ean. 

This  high  plateau  is  dry  and  bare  in  its  Northern  part,  and 
has  been  chiefly  devoted  to  cattle  raisings.  In  the  Southern 
part  it  is  less  dry  and  more  fertile,  and  this  Southern  portion, 
properly  called  central  plateau,  is  the  cereal  region. 

The  Gulf  slope,  damp  and  hot,  is  rich  for  tropical  agriculture 
and  gifted  with  extensive  oil  fields.  The  Pacific  slope,  dry  and 
hot,  but  well  irrigated  by  our  mountains,  wiU  become  an  im- 
portant agricultural  region. 

Yucatan,  a  stony  desert,  which  has  only  been  able  to  produce 
hemp,  is  the  main  body  of  Mexico,  like  Lower  California. 

The  mountain  chains  running  parallel  to  the  Gulf  and  to  the 
Pacific,  and  which  interlock  in  order  to  form  the  high  Central 
Plateau,  are  not  merely  spurs,  but  comprising  vast  regions,  con- 
stitute the  extensive  mountain  portion  of  Mexico,  and  are  the 
mining  region. 

For  a  long  time  Mexico  was  considered  to  be  a  country  of 
marvelous  wealth.  Afterwards  it  was  believed  that  Mexico,  on 
the  contrary,  was  a  very  poor  country.  The  truth  is  that  Mexico 
possesses  great  wealth,  unexploited,  and  needing  large  invest- 
ments of  capital  and  exceeding  energy  and  skill  to  develop  it. 

POPULATION 

From  the  point  of  view  of  population,  Mexico  is  as  little 
known,  as  from  the  Geographical. 

One  speaks  of  the  Mexican  people  and  of  the  characteristics 
of  such  people,  without  taking  into  consideration  that  the  Mexi- 
can people,  or  the  Mexican  race  is  not  a  well  defined  element, 
but  an  agglomeration  which  has  been  constantly  changing  dur- 


ing  the  past  four  hundred  years,  and  is  still  in  way  of  forma- 
tion. Before  the  Spanish  conquest,  hundreds  of  indigenous  races 
existed,  of  such  distinct  and  opposite  characteristics,  that  it  would 
be  difficult  to  find  another  country  in  the  world  possessing  such 
a  number  of  different  races. 

It  is  for  facility's  sake  that  we  speak  of  the  "Mexican  Indian," 
instead  of  speaking  of  the  hundred  of  indigenous  races  of 
Mexico. 

After  the  Spanish  conquest  the  indigenous  population  became 
enslaved.  Later  through  the  efforts  of  the  Spanish  friars  to 
protect  the  aborigene  races  of  Mexico,  the  Indians  ceased  being 
slaves,  to  fall  into  a  condition  of  legal  incapacity. 

Subsequent  to  the  Conquest,  a  mixed  or  mestizos  population 
began  to  be,  and  it  is  still  continuing  and  modifying  its  develop- 
ment day  by  day. 

In  Mexico  there  is  not  a  mixed  population,  properly  speaking, 
with  characteristics  different  from  those  of  the  Indian,  or  dif- 
ferent from  those  of  the  white.  We  have  a  varying  mixed  popu- 
lation, which  in  certain  strata  are  very  near  to  the  Indian,  and 
in  others  cannot  be  discerned  from  the  white. 

For  the  rest,  the  case  with  which  whites  mix  with  mestizos, 
and  the  latter  with  Indians,  produces  the  fact  that  in  Mexico 
the  race  question  properly  speaking  does  not  exist.  There  is 
merely  a  question  of  education,  for  as  soon  as  the  Indian  has 
been  educated,  he  actually  takes  his  rank  by  the  side  of  the 
mestizos. 

The  population  problem  consists  in  unifying  the  mixed  race 
by  means  of  education  and  intercrossing  with  the  Indian  race, 
stiiving  to  secure  the  constant  dissolving  of  the  immigrant 
white  races  into  the  mixed  race. 

This  problem  does  not  present  difficulties  as  regards  the  in- 
tercrossing of  the  Indian  race  with  the  mixed  race,  but  it  is 
very  serious  as  regards  dissolving  the  white  immigrants.  The 
white  immigration  of  Mexico  as  regards  numbers,  can  be  clas- 
sified in  the  following  order:  Spanish,  North  American,  French, 
Italians,  English  and  Germans. 

Of  the  white  immigrants  to  Mexico  the  Spaniard  nearly  al- 
ways blends  with  the  native,  so  that  after  a  generation  it  may 
be  said  that  all  the  Spaniards  become  Mexicans.  We  may  say 
the  same  thing  of  the  Italian  and  immigrants  of  Semitic  origin : 


I 


Arabians,  Armenians,  etc.  After  the  Spaniards  and  the  Italian, 
the  German  assimilates  best,  and  becomes  Mexican  in  two  gen- 
erations. The  German  frequently  marries  a  Mexican  woman 
and  settles  permanently  in  the  country.  French  comes  after 
the  German,  as  regarding  facility  of  blending. 

The  American  immigrant  very  seldom  becomes  Mexican. 
The  very  small  percentage  of  American  immigrants  who  settle 
permanently  in  Mexico  or  who  marry  Mexican  women,  pre- 
serve American  citizenship,  educate  their  children  abroad,  and 
it  may  be  said  that  ninety-five  per  cent,  of  American  immigrants 
remain  always  American,  socially,  politically,  and  ethically. 

The  English  immigrant  rarely  becomes  Mexican.  Hardly 
ever  does  he  marry  a  Mexican  woman  and  his  children  are 
always  educated  abroad.. 

These  brief  explanations  respecting  the  tendencies  to  assimi- 
late the  white  population,  reveal  also  many  political  and  eco- 
nomical questions  which  exist  in  Mexico  regarding  the  situation 
of  foreigners. 


EDUCATION 

The  lack  of  education  of  the  indigenous  population,  is  the 
only  obstacle  to  dissolve  the  Indian  population  into  the  mixed 
one. 

Mexico  has  a  problem  of  education.  It  will  suffice  to  say  that 
there  are  80%  of  illiterate  in  our  country. 

Education  in  Mexico  has  had  many  obstacles.  The  principal 
ones  have  been  the  landlord  system,  which  has  created  the 
peon  class,  in  truth  serfs  to  do  the  work,  and  the  action  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  during  the  nineteenth  century,  which 
has  assisted  landlordism  to  preserve  ignorance  in  the  indigenous 
masses. 

The  activities  of  the  Spanish  friars  in  the  seventeenth  and 
eighteenth  century,  and  of  the  Catholic  clergy  in  general  dur- 
ing those  centuries,  may  be  said  to  have  been  constantly  bene- 
ficial for  the  indigenous  race.  However,  when  the  clergy  ac- 
quired vast  wealth  and  the  Church  became  the  great  land  owner, 
then  the  beneficial  work  of  the  Catholic  Church  for  the  educa- 
tion of  the  indigenous  races  of  Mexico  and  the  Mexican  rural 
population  in  general,  ceased  to  exist  and  there  began  a  counter- 

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movement.     The  tendency  of  the  Church  then  was  directed  to 
maintain  the  rural  population  in  ignorance. 

The  previous  Governments,  either  were  not  aware  of  the  prob- 
lem or  did  not  wish  to  educate  the  Indian  and  the  proletariat. 
The  best  proof  of  the  failure  of  the  Catholic  Church  as  an  edu- 
cator of  the  Indians,  is  that  after  the  Church  has  had  four  hun- 
dred years  of  absolute  dominion  in  educational  matters,  we  still 
have  80%  of  illiterates  in  Mexico. 

The  tendency  of  the  Revolutionary  Government  is,  not  only 
to  remove  the  obstacles  that  the  Mexican  Government  might 
have,  but  to  devote  a  considerable  portion  of  its  efforts  and  of 
the  public  funds  to  the  education  of  the  masses  of  the  people. 


RELIGIOUS  PROBLEM 

Properly  speaking,  Mexico  has  no  religious  problem.  The 
Spanish  system  of  patronage  which  was  extended  to  the  Catho- 
lic Church  by  the  Spanish  kings,  gave  an  almighty  temporal 
power  to  the  clergy,  which  lasted  up  to  1860.  In  this  year  owing 
to  the  War  of  Reform,  the  Church  was  dispossessed  of  its  prop- 
erty, incapacitated  to  acquire  real  estate,  and  deprived  of  tem- 
poral power. 

During  the  long  Government  of  General  Diaz,  the  Catholic 
clergy  creeping  on  from  point  to  point,  in  concealed  form,  re- 
covered much  of  its  temporal  power  and  rebuilt  part  of  its 
fortune.  At  present  some  members  of  the  Catholic  clergy  have 
a  tendency  to  recover  the  temporal  power  which  the  Church  had 
enjoyed  previous  to  1860.  The  tendency  of  the  Revolutionary 
Government  is  to  render  effective  the  absolute  separatioh  of 
Church  from  State,  and  to  prevent  the  Mexican  clergy  from 
recovering  its  temporal  power,  leaving  it,  however,  in  the  most 
absolute  liberty  as  regards  religious  matters. 


AGRARIAN  PROBLEM 

The  Agrarian  Problem  of  Mexico  depends  on  the  geographical 
and  ethnical  conditions  of  the  country. 

The  Spanish  colonial  system  of  huge  land  grants,  the  con- 
stant absorption  of  real  estate  by  the  clergy  during  the  eigh- 
teenth century  and  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century,  the 


system  of  concession  of  Government  lands  adopted  during  the 
second  half  of  the  nineteenth  century,  created  and  continued  a 
state  of  landlordism  which  has  been  the  chief  cause  of  the  unrest 
in  Mexico  during  the  nineteenth  century. 

As  a  consequence  of  this  landlordism,  there  has  been  produced 
a  constant  condition  of  serfdom  among  the  rural  classes  of  Mex- 
ico, known  as  peonage.  The  Agrarian  Problem  of  Mexico  con- 
sists in  the  destruction  of  landlordism  to  facilitate  the  forma- 
tion of  small  farms,  as  also  to  effect  the  granting  of  "commons" 
to  the  villages.  The  Agrarian  Problem  includes  the  division 
or  parcelling  of  large  estates,  and  a  system  of  taxes  upon  rural 
property  to  prevent  the  reconstruction  of  large  estates.  Up-to-date 
'it  may  be  said  that  large  rural  estates  have  practically  never 
paid  taxes. 

NATURAL  RESOURCES 

The  lack  of  Mexican  capital  has  been  the  reason  that  mining 
and  other  Mexican  industries  have  not  been  developed  save 
through  foreign  capital. 

The  Spanish  Government  believed  that  the  economical  devel- 
opment of  Mexico  should  be  based  on  land  monopoly,  and  also 
on  commercial  privileges  granted  to  Spaniards  born  in  the 
mother  country. 

In  the  exploitation  of  the  natural  wealth  of  Mexico,  the  sys- 
tem followed  by  the  past  administration,  and  especially  by  that 
of  General  Diaz,  was  of  granting  concessions  so  intrenched  in 
privilege,  that  further  competition  become  impossible.  This  sys- 
tem of  privileges  and  monopoly,  comprised  not  only  the  min- 
ing, petroleum  and  water  power  industries,  but  all  kinds  of  in- 
dustries and  manufactures,  commerce  and  banking.  It  may  be 
said  that  in  general  the  economic  development  of  Mexico  during 
the  administration  of  General  Diaz,  was  the  development  of  big 
business  based  on  privilege. 

The  general  tendency  of  the  Revolutionary  Government  of 
Mexico,  is  to  obtain  an  economic  development  based  on  un- 
shackled competition,  and  of  such  a  nature  that  the  develop- 
ment of  existing  business  may  not  prevent  future  commerce 
p*>d  industry. 

From  this  point  of  view,  foreign  capital,  invested  in  Mexico 
upon  the  system  of  privilege,  considers  itself  attacked  by  the 

10 


present  revolution.  However,  if  we  understand  the  general 
tendency  of  the  Mexican  Revolution,  we  find  that  it  opens  a 
field  of  action  for  the  investment  of  foreign  capital  much  wider 
than  that  existing  heretofore. 

COMMERCIAL  PROBLEM 

The  lack  of  fluvial  navigation  and  the  great  height  of  the 
Central  Plateau  above  the  sea  level,  the  uneven  topography, 
have  compelled  Mexico  to  rely  upon  a  scant  system  of  railways. 
Due  to  this,  Mexico's  commerce  has  been  effected  on  false  bases. 
It  has  been  simply  importation  and  exportation  with  foreign 
countries,  without  developing  domestic  interchange  of  products. 
Commerce  itself  has  been  to  a  great  extent,  the  only  fount  of 
fiscal  revenue,  principally,  the  commerce  of  importation.  For  a 
long  time  exports  and  even  raw  materials  have  been  free  from 
duty. 

The  tendency  of  the  Revolutionary  Government  consists  in 
controlling  the  railways,  these  being  the  only  ways  of  com- 
munication that  the  country  has.  It  purposes  also  to  develop 
other  ways  by  utilizing  the  forces  which  lie  latent  in  Mexico : 
oil  and  water  power. 

INDUSTRIAL  PROBLEM 

The  industrial  development  of  Mexico  dates  from  the  last 
twenty  years:  Its  basis  has  been  artificial.  It  has  consisted 
of  an  excessive  protection  to  infant  industry,  rendering  them 
uncertain  and  precarious,  owing  to  lack  of  mercantile  bases, 
and  they  have  prevented  the  establishment  of  competing  in- 
dustries. 

The  tendency  of  the  Revolutionary  Government  is  to  place  the 
industrial  development  of  the  country  upon  a  business  basis, 
leaving  aside  the  system  of  protection,  concession,  privileges, 
and  monopoly,  which  has  been  until  now  the  bases  of  what 
little  development  has  been  effected. 

POLITICAL  PROBLEM 

The  diversity  of  type  of  civilization  of  the  Indian,  the  mestizo 
and  the  white,  constitutes  in  Mexico  a  serious  social  and  politi- 
cal problem  which  may  be  set  forth  by  saying  that  it  is  neces- 

11 


skry  to  find  a  formula  of  Government  which  may  serve  at  the 
same  time  for  a  type  of  medieval  civilization  as  is  the  mestizo, 
and  for  a  type  of  modern  civilization,  as  is  the  foreign  immigrant 
or  the  educated  Creole.  If  this  is  not  possible,  it  would  be  neces- 
sary to  find  various  governmental  formulas  and  various  regimes 
for  each  one  of  the  elements  forming  Mexico's  population. 

Up  to  the  time  of  General  Diaz,  the  political  laws  of  Me?:ico 
have  been  based  on  advanced  theories,  but  these  have  never 
been  rendered  effective.  This  produced  inequality,  juridic  and 
economical.  The  political  problem  of  Mexico  consists  in  ren- 
dering effective  the  political  and  civil  law.  In  order  to  do  this 
it  is  necessary  above  all  to  find  the  legal  and  political  formulas, 
so  that  after  these  laws  have  been  promulgated,  it  may  be  pos- 
sible to  apply  them  efficaciously,  thus  securing  equality  of  rights 
among  all  men. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROBLEMS 


The  international  problems  of  Mexico  deserve  special  atten- 
tion. 

The  main  political  international  problem  of  Mexico  consists 
in  her  relations  with  the  United  States. 

After  the  1847  war,  which  cost  Mexico  half  of  her  territory, 
Mexicans  have  not  been  able  to  regain  confidence  in  regard 
to  the  imperialistic  tendency  that  the  Latin-American  countries 
attribute  to  the  United  States.  During  the  Mexican  revolu- 
tion, after  the  occupation  of  Vera  Cruz  and  the  Columbus  ex- 
pedition, the  fears  of  Mexicans  of  a  conflict  with  the  United 
States  have  increased  considerably,  chiefly  since  it  is  known 
that  one  of  the  political  parties  of  the  United  States  frankly 
advocates  intervention. 

The  repeated  and  public  statements  of  no  intervention  made 
by  the  Democratic  Government  of  the  United  States,  have  not 
been  sufficient  to  allay  the  fears  of  Mexicans. 

As  a  neighbor  of  the  United  States,  Mexico  will  also  have  as 
an  international  problem  the  danger  of  a  conflict  between  the 
United  States  and  some  other  European  or  Asiatic  power.  The 
foes  of  the  United  States,  who  are  always  foes  of  the  whole 
American  Continent,  will  certainly  assume  to  be  friends  of  Mex- 
ico, and  will  try  to  take  advantage  of  any  sort  of  resentment, 

12 


Reeling    or    distrust    that    Mexico    may    have    against    United 
States. 

Mexico,  nevertheless,  understands  that  in  case  of  a  conflict 
between  the  United  States  and  any  other  nation  outside  of 
America,  her  attitude  must  be  one  of  complete  Continental 
solidarity. 

From  this  viewpoint,  the  Revolutionary  Government  has  fol- 
lowed a  policy  of  frankness  and  consistency  in  her  relations  with 
the  United  States,  always  putting  her  deeds  in  accordance  with 
her  words,  and  sincerely  trying  to  reach  an  understanding  writh 
the  people  and  the  Government  of  the  United  States. 

Within  Mexico,  the  real  international  problem  means  the  pro- 
tection of  foreign  life  and  property  and  the  condition  of  for- 
eigners in  regard  to  natives.  On  account  of  the  non-enforce- 
ment of  the  political  and  civil  laws  in  favor  of  Mexicans,  and  on 
account  of  the  always  watchful  diplomatic  protection  that  for- 
eigners have  enjoyed,  a  sort  of  privileged  condition  has  arisen 
little  by  little  in  favor  of  foreigners.  Mexico  has  the  problem 
of  equalizing  the  condition  of  Mexicans  and  foreigners,  not  by 
lowering  foreigners,  but  by  raising  the  condition  of  natives. 

The  pHvileged  condition  of  foreigners  that  has  existed  in  Mex- 
ico for  a  long  time,  has  produced  a  certain  jealousy  and  distrust 
with  which  Mexicans  look  upon  the  increase  of  immigration 
and  foreign  investments  in  Mexico,  since  such  increase  would 
be  considered  as  the  strengthening  of  a  privileged  .class. 

The  problem  for  Mexico  is  to  find  the  way  in  which  foreign 
money  and  immigrants  can  freely  come  to  Mexico  and  contribute 
to  her  progress  without  becoming  a  privileged  class,  that  is  to 
say,  that  instead  of  becoming  a  growing  menace  to  the  sover- 
eignty of 'Mexico,  they  will  contribute  to  the  consolidation  of 
her  sovereignty  and  independence  as  a  nation. 

All  the  problems  heretofore  stated  have  always  been  complex 
and  greatly  misunderstood. 

The  old  regime  had  created  such  interests  and  those  interests 
were  so  strongly  bound  with  the  Government,  that  during  the 
last  years  of  the  Government  of  General  Diaz  it  was  quite  clear 
that  no  peaceful  solution  was  attainable.  The  transformation 
of  the  whole  system  by  congressional  action  trying  to  change 
the  laws  and  the  Government  at  large,  as  well  els  the  economical 
conditions  of  the  country,  would  have  required  probably  a  whole 

13 


century  of  efforts,  and  still  it  is  not  sure  that  such  solution  would 
be  reached  or  that  in  the  meantime  civil  war  would  not  have 
broken  out. 

After  the  election  of  General  Diaz  in  1910,  it  was  well  under- 
stood that  the  purpose  of  such  election  was  to  perpetuate  the 
same  form  of  Government  and  the  same  system  as  had  been 
followed.  The  people  saw  that  it  was  impossible  to  transform 
anything  by  peaceful  methods. 

The  Mexican  people  then  had  to  resort  to  force  in  order  to 
destroy  a  regime  which  was  contrary  to  its  liberty,  develop- 
ment and  welfare. 

The  last  six  years  of  internal  upheaval  of  a  chaotic  appear- 
ance, mean  for  Mexico  a  process  of  sociological  transformation 
of  her  people. 

The  scientific  interpretation  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  is  not 
possible,  unless  facts  are  taken  as  a  whole  and  a  considerable 
period  of  time  is  analyzed.  AH  of  us  know  that  matters  of  ut- 
most importance  are  analyzed  and  studied  and  conclusions  are 
drawn  from  incomplete  facts  in  every  day  reading  newspapers 
of  the  United  States,  which  is  the  only  way  in  which  it  is  impos- 
sible to  draw  sane  conclusions  from  facts. 

I  have  never  seen  a  country,  either  in  Europe  or  in  South 
America,  where  conclusions  are  drawn  or  editorials  are  written 
save  after  a  reasonable  time  has  justified  the  drawing  of  such 
conclusions.  But  in  the  United  States  the  rush  of  public  curi- 
osity for  facts  is  misunderstood  as  an  eager  curiosity  for  ideas, 
and  so  this  is  the  only  country  in  the  world  where  we  can  see 
that  an  editorial  comes  the  same  morning  in  which  a  mere 
rumor  on  some  subject  is  published. 

This  way  of  studying  sociological  facts,  sounds  to  me  like  an 
attempt  of  a  Physics  student  who  studies  the  swing  of  the 
pendulum,  instead  of  waiting  that  the  whole  swing  is  complete 
and  that  a  certain  number  of  swings  have  occurred,  would  be 
in  such  eagerness  of  finding  scientific  conclusions  of  any  of  the 
positions  of  the  pendulum  and  would  take  any  moment  of  the 
swing  proceeding  to  calculate  the  exact  direction  in  which  the 
center  of  the  earth  is  placed.  The  conclusion  of  that  student 
would  be  that  the  earth  is  mad  and  that  its  center  is  changino- 
foolishly. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  Mexican  Revolution  is  not  properly 
a  revolution,  but  mere  anarchy;  that  countries  at  peace  consider 

14 


dangerous  and  intolerable.  Nevertheless,  if  we  can  demon- 
strate with  facts  that  the  Mexican  Revolution  has  followed  ex- 
actly the  natural  course  of  any  other  revolution,  and  if  it  can 
be  demonstrated  that  even  at  the  present  time  the  Revolution- 
ary Government  of  Mexico  is  pursuing  a  well  defined  program 
of  reconstruction,  one  must  necessarily  reach  the  conclusion 
that  the  Mexican  people  are  not  acting  madly,  nor  blindly 
destroying  her  wealth  and  her  men,  but  performing  a  task  of 
transformation  beneficial  and  indispensable,  from  which  results 
are  expected  that  will  reward  the  sacrifices  that  are  now  being 
made. 

It  will  appear  indeed  as  strange  and  bold,  and  it  will  per- 
haps shock  to  a  certain  extent,  especially  the  members  of  the 
American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Science  and  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Arbitration  and  Peace  Society,  that  in  a  scientific 
and  pacifist  audience  like  this,  some  one  comes  to  make  the 
apology  of  force  and  insurrection  as  a  means  of  securing  the 
liberty  and  welfare  of  her  people. 

I  am  not  trying  to  impose  my  views,  but  simply  applying 
sociological  criterion  to  facts  that  have  occurred  in  Mexico. 

When  a  system  of  work  is  right,  but  we  fail  to  obtain  results 
from  our  efforts  for  lack  of  efficiency,  the  task  of  the  reformer 
consists  in  improving  that  system.  But  when  a  system  is  radi- 
cally wrong,  we  must  abandon  that  system  and  find  a  better 
one. 

The  gradual  and  slow  reform  of  a  system  to  make  it  suit  the 
requirements  of  a  man,  of  a  business  enterprise,  of  an  institution 
or  of  a  country,  is  called  evolution.  The  abandonment  of  a  sys- 
tem to  be  replaced  by  another,  is  called  a  revolution. 

The  use  of  force  is  not  essential  to  a  revolution ;  but  the  revo- 
lution in  the  personal  conduct  of  men,  in  business  or  in  com- 
munities, implies  always  a  considerable  effort  and  a  great 
amount  of  sacrifice. 

Historically,  we  can  assert  that  with  very  few  exceptions,  the 
greatest  conquests  of  human  liberty  and  human  welfare  have 
not  been  made  without  large  sacrifices  of  men  and  property. 

In  sociology,  the  revolution  is  the  rebellion  of  a  people  against 
a  social  system  that  has  been  found  wrong.  But  as  every  social 
system  is  embodied  in  certain  laws  and  in  a  certain  political 
organization,   revolution   appears   always   as   a   violation   of  ex- 

15 


isting  laws  and  as  an  insurrection  against  the  Government. 
Hence  all  revolutions  appear  as  anarchical  attempts  to  destroy 
society  and  this  is  also  why  most  insurrections  are  called  revo- 
lutions. 

A  revolution  means  the  use  of  force  to  destroy  an  unsatis- 
factory system  and  the  employment  of  force  and  intelligence  to 
build  the  new  system. 

A  revolution  has  consequently  two  clearly  defined  stages,  the 
destructive,  nearly  always  a  period  of  war,  and  rebellion  against 
the  so-called  established  Government,  and  the  stage  of  disa- 
vowal of  most  of  the  existing  laws,  which  means  the  use  of 
force  against  the  social,  economic  and  legal  system. 

When  the  old  regime  has  been  destroyed,  the  mere  re-estab- 
lishment of  legal  order  without  any  change,  would  be  tantamount 
to  the  simple  reconstruction  of  the  same  structure  already  de- 
stroyed. This  is  what  sometimes  makes  revolutions  fail.  To 
avoid  this,  any  revolution  has  a  second  stage,  that  is  always 
known  as  the  period  of  revolutionary  government.  During  this 
second  period,  force  is  also  employed  in  the  form  of  a  dictatorial 
Government,  to  establish  the  required  reforms,  that  is  to  say, 
to  lay  the  foundations  of  the  new  social  economic  and  political 
structure.  After  every  revolution,  k  period  of  dictatorial  in- 
terregnum has  always  followed,  because  revolutionary  dictator- 
ship means  the  use  of  force  for  reconstruction. 

When  the  foundations  of  reconstructions  have  been  laid  down, 
then  it  is  possible  to  return  to  a  legal  regime  no  longer  based 
upon  the  old  legislation  nor  upon  the  obsolete  system  but  upon 
new  principles  that  become  the  new  legal  system,  that  is  to  say, 
the  new  regime. 

The  French  Revolution  has  been  the  most  complete  example 
of  a  revolution,  with  its  frankly  destructive  period,  its  anarchic 
state,  its  revolutionary  government  and  its  new  regime  upon 
which  France  afterwards  developed,  and  we  also  can  say  upon 
which  the  rest  of  Europe  has  subsequently  developed. 

The  Mexican  Revolution  was  nothing  more  than  the  insur- 
rection of  the  Mexican  people  against  a  very  repressive  and 
wealthy  regime  represented  by  the  Government  of  General  Diaz, 
and  against  a  social,  political  and  economic  system  supporting 
such  a  Government. 

Said  revolution  had  as  its  prodromes  the  political  insurrection 
of  Madero.     But  Madero  saw  no  more  than  the  political  side  of 

16 


the  Mexican  situation.  He  professed  that  a  change  of  Govern- 
ment was  sufficient  to  bring  about  a  change  in  the  general  con- 
ditions of  the  country.  Madero  compromised  with  the  Diaz 
regime  and  acquiesced  in  taking  charge  of  his  Government,  and 
ruled  the  country  with  the  same  laws,  same  proceedings  and 
even  with  the  same  men  with  whom  General  Diaz  had  ruled. 
The  logical  consequence  was  that  Madero  had  to  fail  because 
he  had  not  destroyed  the  old  nor  attempted  to  rebuild  a  new 
regime. 

The  assassination  of  Madero  and  the  dictatorship  of  Huerta 
were  mere  attempts  at  reaction  made  by  the  old  regime  with  its 
same  men,  its  same  money  and  its  same  proceedings,  and  at- 
tempting to  re-establish  exactly  the  same  old  conditions  that 
existed  under  General  Diaz. 

The  Constitutionalist  Revolution  set  forth  its  line  of  con- 
duct from  the  very  beginning.  The  Plan  of  Guadalupe  issued 
by  Mr.  Carranza  in  March  1913,  immediately  after  the  assassina- 
tion of  Madero,  is  the  straightest  revolutionary  proclamation 
that  could  be  imagined  to  destroy  an  old  regime.  Said  plan 
meant  the  absolute  disavowal  of  the  Executive,  Legislative  and 
Judicial  Powers  that  had  existed  up  to  that  time,  arid  authorized 
the  use  of  force  for  the  destruction  of  Huerta*s  Government, 
which  was  being  supported  by  General  Diaz'  army,  by  the 
power  of  the  land  owner  and  by  the  moral  influence  of  the 
Catholic  clergy. 

A  period  of  blood  followed,  and  when  Huerta  was  finally  de- 
feated and  the  Chief  of  the  Constitutionalist  Revolution  reached 
the  City  of  Mexico,  it  was  believed  that  the  destructive  period 
of  the  Mexican  Revolution  was  at  an  end."  But  a  period  of  an 
extremely  chaotic  and  anarchic  character  necessarily  followed. 

At  the  end  of  1914  the  Mexican  situation  was  most  puzzling 
and  bewildering,  and  still  it  was  at  that  very  moment  and  in  the 
middle  of  such  an  extreme  confusion,  that  Don  Venustiano  Car- 
ranza, as  the  Chief  of  the  Constitutionalist  Revolution,  set  forth 
the  general  outlines  upon  which  the  reconstruction  of  Mexico 
was  to  be  carried  out. 

Said  outlines  are  embodied  in  the  decree  of  December  12th, 
1914,  which  I  will  quote  here  as  the  best  interpretation  of  the 
basic  lines  upon  which  the  new  regime  and  the  new  social  sys- 
tem were  to  be  found. 

17 


Said  decree  in  substance  indicates  that  whereas  the  use  of 
force  had  been  required  to  overthrow  the  Huerta  Government 
and  in  view  of  the  chaotic  conditions  of  the  country,  it  was 
necessary  to  use  the  same  force  to  continue  the  struggle  until 
peace  should  be  attained,  and  to  reconstruct  the  new  regime. 

The  main  provisions  of  said  decree  read  as  follows: 

"Art.  1.  The  Plan  of  Guadalupe  of  the  26th  of  March,  1913 
shall  remain  in  force  until  the  complete  triumph  of  the  Revo- 
lution. Consequently,  Citizen  Venustiano  Carranza  will  con- 
tinue as  First  Chief  of  the  Constitutionalist  Revolution  and  in 
Charge  of  the  Executive  Power  of  the  Nation,  until  such  time 
as  the  enemy  is  vanquished  and  peace  is  restored. 

"Art.  2.  The  First  Chief  of  the  Revolution,  in  Charge  of  the 
Executive  Power,  will  issue  and  put  in  force  during  the  struggle 
all  such  laws,  regulations  and  measures  that  may  satisfy,  the 
economic,  social  and  political  requirements  of  the  country,  carry- 
ing out  such  reforms  as  public  opinion  may  require  to  establish 
a  regime  to  guarantee  the  equality  among  all  Mexicans,  to  wit : 
Agrarian  laws  that  may  facilitate  the  creation  of  small  property, 
parcelling  the  large  estates  an4,  restoring  to  the  villages  the 
commons  of  which  they  were  unjustly  dispossessed ;  fiscal  laws 
tending  to  reach  an  equitable  system  of  taxation  upon  real 
estate ;  legislation  to  better  the  condition  of  rural  laborers,  work- 
ing men,  miners  and  in  general  of  all  the  proletariat;  establish- 
ment of  municipal  liberty  as  a  constitutional  institution;  basis 
for  a  new  system  of  organization  of  the  army;  reform  of  the 
electoral  system  to  obtain  actual  suffrage ;  organization  of  an 
independent  judicial  power  both  in  the  Federation  and  the 
States ;  revision  of  laws  relating  to  marriage  and  civil  status 
of  persons;  regulations  that  will  guarantee  the  strict  enforce- 
ment of  the  Reform  Laws;  revision  of  the  civil,  criminal  and 
commercial  codes;  reformation  of  judicial  proceedings  for  the 
purpose  of  obtaining  a  rapid  and  efficient  administration  of 
justice;  revision  of  laws  relative  to  the  exploitation  of  mines, 
oil,  waters,  forests  and  other  natural  resources  of  the  country 
in  order  to  destroy  monopolies  ^created  by  the  old  regime  and 
to  avoid  the  formation  of  new  monopolies  in  the  future ;  political 
reforms  that  may  guarantee  the  real  enforcement  of  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  Republic,  and  in  general  of  such  other  laws 
as  may  be  considered  necessary  to  ensure  to  the  inhabitants  of 
the  country  the  real  and  full  enjoyment  of  their  rights  and 
equality  before  the  law. 

18 


"Art.  4.  At  the  triumph  of  the  Revolution,  when  the  Su- 
preme Power  be  reinstated  in  the  City  of  Mexico  and  after 
municipal  elections  take  place  in  most  of  the  States  of  the 
Republic,  the  First  Chief  of  the  Revolution,  in  Charge  of  the 
Executive  Power,  will  call  elections  for  the  Federal  Congress 
fixing  the  proclamation,  the  dates  and  conditions  in  which  said 
elections  must  take  place. 

"Art.  5.  When  the  national  Congress  assembles,  the  First 
Chief  of  the  Revolution  will  report  to  it  concerning  his  steward- 
ship of  the  power  vested  upon  him  by  this  decree,  and  he  will 
especially  submit  the  reforms  issued  and  put  in  force  during  the 
struggle,  so  that  Congress  may  ratify,  amend  or  supplement  them, 
and  raise  to  the  rank  of  constitutional  provisions  such  laws  as 
may  have  to  take  that  character;  all  before  the  establishment 
of  constitutional  order." 

The  reading  of  this  decree  .is  of  utmost  importance  to  all 
who  seem  to  be  confused  by  events  developing  in  Mexico  since 
the  overthrow  of  Huerta,  and  to  those  who  only  see  in  Mexico 
an  incomprehensible  condition  of  anarchy. 

It  will  be  of  still  greater  importance  to  know  that  this  de- 
cree has  been  the  rule  under  which  the  construction  of  Mexico 
is  being  made  by  the  Revolutionary  Government. 

Students  of  the  Revolution  of  Mexico  from  a  disinterested 
and  scientific  point  of  view,  should  keep  in  mind,  as  lines  of 
interpretation  of  events  occurred  during  the  last  six  years,  the 
following  points,  which  might  be  at  the  same  time  a  sort  of  in- 
dex to  the  chapters  for  a  most  extended  study  of  the  Mexican 
situation :  I.  Causes  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  as  deriving 
from  the  political  and  economic  development  of  the  country 
up  to  the  end  of  the  nineteenth  century ;  II.  Prodromes  of 
the  Mexican  Revolution  until  the  death  of  Madero ;  III  .  De- 
struction of  the  political  and  military  powers  of  the  old  regime, 
until  August,  1914;  IV.  Destruction  of  the  economic  power  of 
the  old  regime  during  the  preconstitutional  period  (1915-1916)  : 
V.     Beginning  of  the  reconstruction. 

Such  has  been  the  development  of  the  Mexican  Revolution, 
and  such  is  the  interpretation  of  past,  present  and  future  oc- 
currences in  regard  to  this  Revolution. 

Such  has  to  be  the  interpretation,  regardless  of  who  are  the 
men  in  the  Government. 

19 


If  Carranza  and  the  men  around  him  are  personally  over- 
powered by  the  new  anarchic  period,  and  if  they  have  to  die  or 
get  out,  that  would  not  mean  that  my  conclusions  were  wrong. 
It  would  only  mean  that  a  man  is  not  always  a  span  between 
two  regimes.  There  have  been  cases  in  which  a  revolution  has 
been  completed  during  the  life  of  a  man,  be  he  Cromwell  or 
Washington.  Some  other  times  a  long  list  of  heroes  and 
martyrs  is  required  to  complete  a  transformation  of  the  people, 
from  Mirabeau  to  Napoleon. 

In  Mexico  we  have  had  three  revolutions.  Our  revolution  of 
Independence  in  1810,  was  not  carried  out  by  a  single  man. 
Hidalgo  initiated  it  and  died  without  seeing  the  end.  Morelos 
continued  and  also  passed  away  before  our  country  was  free. 
Guerrero  was  the  only  one  who  saw  the  consummation  of  our 
independence. 

In  1857  it  only  took  Juarez  to  see  the  beginning  and  the  end 
of  the  Reform  Revolution. 

The  present  Revolution  has  already  consumed  Madero.  If 
Carranza  does  not  see  the  end  of  this  movement,  that  will  not 
change  the  development  of  the  revolution.  It  will  only  mean 
that  Carranza  himself  and  the  men  around  him  are  no  more  than 
a  link  in  the  chain  of  men  who  will  sacrifice  their  lives  for  the 
liberty  and  the  welfare  of  the  Mexican  people. 

To  close  my  remarks  I  wish  to  reiterate  my  apologies  to  the 
audience,  and  especially  to  the  members  of  the  American  Acad- 
emy of  Political  and  Social  Science  and  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Arbitration  and  Peace  Society,  for  the  theme  I  have  chosen  for 
this  conference. 

I  sincerely  believe  that  the  people  of  this  country  need  to 
study  the  Mexican  Revolution,  not  only  for  the  sake  of  their 
interest  toward  Mexico,  nor  for  their  own  interest  alone  as  bur 
neighbors,  but  also  as  an  example  of  an  economic  and  social 
.revolution  that  is  taking  place  in  the  twentieth  century. 

I  wish  a  great  prosperity  and  a  long  peace  to  this  country, 
and  that  the  solution  of  all  its  problems  be  made  by  peaceful 
methods.  Nations  nevertheless,  when  they  make  mistakes  in 
their  development,  have  to  make  a  revolution.  If  such  a  revo- 
lution can  be  made  without  alteration  of  peace,  the  unnecessary 
evils  of  a  revolution  can  be  avoided  and  all  the  benefit  that  a 
revolution  necessarily  brings  about  will  be  reaped. 

20 


Bernard  Shaw  says  that  revolution  is  a  national  institution  in 
England,  because  the  English  people,  through  democratic  pro- 
ceedings, can  make  a  revolution  every  seven  years,  if  they 
choose  to  do  so.  The  Anglo-Saxon  referendum  is  no  more  than 
a  right  to  peaceful  revolution. 

The  Mexican  people  do  not  enjoy  that  blessing,  and  have 
been  obliged  to  engage  in  a  bloody  and  costly  revolution  to 
attain  their  liberty  and  welfare.     There  is  a  reason. 

A  revolution  is  not  only  a  source  of  evil  and  tears,  just  as  fire 
does  not  always  produce  devastation.  Unexplored  wildernesses 
of  the  Temperate  Zone  can  be  open  to  agriculture  by  exploiting 
the  forest  wealth  and  at  the  same  time  preparing  the  soil  for 
future  cultivation. 

In  tropical  countries,  however,  the  common  way  of  opening 
fields  to  cultivation  is  to  clear  them  with  a  great  fire  that  con- 
sumes much  natural  wealth  indeed,  but  which  at  the  same  time 
rapidly  devours  the  jungle  and  by  purifying  and  fertilizing  the 
soil,  saves  a  great  amount  of  work. 


21 


Does  Mexico  Interest  You? 

Then  you  should  read  the  following  pamphlets: 


What  the  Catholic  Church  Has  Done  for  Mexico,  by  Doctor 

Paganel    

The  Agrarian  Law  of  Yucatan 

The  Labor  Law  of  Yucatan 


International  Labor  Forum 

Intervene  in  Mexico,  Not  to  Make,  but  to  End  War, 

Mr.  Hearst,  with  reply  by  Rolland 

The  President's  Mexican  Policy,  by  F.  K.  Lane 

The  Religious  Question  in  Mexico 

A  Reconstructive  Policy  in  Mexico 

Manifest  Destiny 


urges 


What  of  Mexico , 

Speech  of  General  Alvarado, 
Many  Mexican  Problems..., 


Charges  Against  the  Diaz  Administration 

Carranza   

Stupenduous  Issues , 


Minister  of  the  Catholic  Cult 
Star  of  Hope  for  Mexico. . . . , 
Land  Question  in  Mexico 


Open  Letter  to  the  Editor  of  the  Chicago  Tribune,  Chicago,  111. 

How  We  Robbed  Mexico  in  1848,  by  Robert  H.  Howe 

What  the  Mexican  Conference  Really  Means 

The  Economic  Future  of  Mexico 


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